Two men were arrested for assault on Sunday, accused of pouring water from an 11th floor apartment balcony in Minato Ward onto people walking on the street below.
Police said Keitaro Hagiwara, 24, an unemployed man who lives in the apartment, and his friend, Katsunori Yamana, 25, are accused of using a 45-liter bucket to pour water on a 41-year old man and his 3-year-old son at around 1 p.m. on March 10. Police said that there had been five cases reported to police since February of people being drenched in water as they passed the 11-floor apartment block.
Police said that while no one was injured in the reported cases and that it was rare for them to pursue charges relating to splashing or attacking people with water, they noted it was possible someone could be injured and that the incidents had caused concern amongst residents.
Hagiwara and Yamana have admitted to pouring the water from the 30-meter-high balcony, adding that while they did it for fun, they now regret their actions.
© News reports
62 Comments
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saborichan
It would be kind of funny to see it happen to some awful ganguro girl, but a little kid is a bit unfair.
techall
Not even water baloons, these guys have no imagination.
meanmutha
Very unjapanese act and they will be punished very Japanese style. Disturbing Wa but only a suspended sentence and they will find another childish act to take up their loser time. Most other countries would grind you down and toss you in prison for a few but nothing but a bow to the Dad and kid with super gomen. I give it 50/50 he tosses himself instead of the H20 next time.
Suzu1
A bucket of water from the top of a doorway onto a friend could be funny (and eventually seen as such by the surprised party). 45 litres of water from a 30m high balcony onto strangers not likely to ever be seen as such.
flammenwerfer
If they worked for MBS. YTV, ABC et al, this would have been filmed and on one of the countless inane variety shows and everyone watching would have laughed loudly and they would be comic heroes.
only because they got caught!
noborito
10 years suspended.
now on to my rant. I personally would love to see this. Free entertainment. Perhaps the music, movie, or who ever owns humor would like to charge royalties.
Can't believe someone would call the police about it. I would think saying a few choice words, or a nice knock on the door and punch in the face, would have been more appropriate. I would figure most Japanese would simply keep on moving keeping to themselves.
Now that it is in the public news, watch out for the Typical Copycat Behavior! Keep your eyes to the skies.
combinibento
Surely there has to be something more pressing to report on these days! This type of stuff is the routine misbehavin' that ends up on youtube -- not the 6:00 news.
larguero
I used to do it with water baloons, small tomatos and grapes when I was young. In my country, water baloon wars are typical of carnival season. I was stupid, but as I was young (aound 12) it was forgiveable. Doing these things at 24 is ridiculous... at least he could have aimed to pretty women, so we could see some wet t-shirts...
Samuraiiki
That is what happens when you hold back on a lot of things when you are a kid. When I was in college, on Halloween night it was water balloons and eggs flying from one student resident to another, (off campus of course). Yes they would call the police but no arrests were made. It was once a year type of fun. But, Japanese are not afraid of water, they just prefer to be rather dried because they seem to have a lower body temperature as you can see when you travel on ANA of JAL and the heat is all cranked-up, yet they will have their sweaters and blankets while you will be gasping for air. No offense meant, just an observation.
kinniku
Why should the victim take a chance on getting charged and arrested by the police for being a victim? It is better to let the police handle it.
Coolasapool
brilliant..
mark_in_japan
Chronological ages: 24 and 25; Mental ages: around 12.
mistersmarmy
a 45 litre bucket?! thats a lot of water! of course residents were concerned that they had two idiots in their building.
bobbafett
me too. I have a 3 year old son. screw the cops. a punch in the face and then some would gone a long way to disrupting their boring routine. A trip to hospital may have been fun for them.
Wakarimasen
Unemployed and nothing to do. Crappy SOH. Not surprising, but better than some of the recent antics we have read about on J-Today.
Disillusioned
Yep, these twits need a lesson from the school of hard knocks. Glad it was only water they were dropping and not something more harmful. It is somewhat amusing it took the cops so long to work out who was dumping the water.
kinniku
However, this would probably also mean a trip to a cell for you. I don't think that would be good for either you or your son.
Raymasaki
oh Big deal it was just water. Yes someone could have gotten hurt. Im guessing most of you dont or havent seen JP TV. They do alot of pranks & hidden camera tricks, the japanese have a good sense of Humor.
NeoJamal
The worst thing of all is that, despite being unemployed in this harsh economic climate, they weren't making any money out of this mischief.
ClassWarUK
This is kids stuff. News???? There are tons of things going on and this is in the crime section, get real!
Samuraiiki
Not a good thing to do though. Ours was between warring staudent factions.
Kokubuspider
If you got drenched by a bucket of a liquid, it might not have been water. It could have been urine and faeces, which could give the victim hepatitis. Or it could cause a small child to get scared, run into the road, and get hit by a car. Or an old lady slip and brake her hip, making her housebound for the rest of her life.
I dont see anything funny about this at all.
bdiego
Or it can knock the 3 year old to the ground and crack his skull. From the 11th floor this hits you as hard as a fire hose, against a 3-year old of all targets.
helloklitty
Thanks for the photo. I think I'll pay those boys a visit.
kinniku
Obviously, these two are a couple of idiots and it would be natural to want to rearrange their facial features if they were to do harm to someone we love. However, I would not advise taking the law into your own hands...
peachy871
Wow. Talk about not having a life! Throwing water on people's heads as they walk by. Kind of funny yet pathetic at that age and out of line. Totally out of line when it is done to a tiny kid! I love how they now regret their actions...yeah, because they got caught! LOL
Yasashihito
Hey Wakarimasen, you said it's better than some of the recent antics we've read about, like what?
Dennis Bauer
Flammenwerfer
|they now regret their actions
"only because they got caught!"
My sentiments exactly!
PaulieWalnuts
hahaha good luck columbo
norinrad21
My best friend and i used to stand on the balcony while throwing eggs at people with knew. That was funny and some of my best teen age years. These guys however are too old to be pulling stunts like this.
talk about boredom.
Altria
Those suckers are just lucky it was water and not medieval-style boiling oil.
sharky1
Change the headline to "How To Get Free Room & Board If You're Unemployed".
BBLeo
Thanks to unemployment at least we are reading some funny stories. Mind you it is good to have a free shower. Any shortage of water in Japan" and lucky them that wasn’t boiled water or oil. Is it safe to walk on the streets of Japan without umbrella?
ca1ic0cat
Heck, we used to drop water balloons. Guess people just don't have a sense of humor any more.
I wonder if the sentence will be proportionate with the crime?
temporaryVisa
How is it possible that an unemployed idiot like that can afford such a nice appartment at a prime location.
Molenir
Yeah, very true. I mean everyone loves to get splashed by some unknown liquid for the amusement of some loser right. Especially if you have your young kid along. Total bummer. People should just regain their sense of humor. I mean as long as it isn't you getting the crap dumped on you right?
yawmin
funny joke, but if my kid was splashed, id find out who did it and pee on them, straight up
ca1ic0cat
At university most humor was coarse and physical. Fortunately it never crossed into dangerous.
irishhighlander
Regret it now because they got caught.
bcbrownboy
Assault with a deadly . . . water?
WilliB
How old were these idiots?
TheguyNextdoor
WOW, this one is straight from japan and only japan. Charges for dumping water on someone....lol. What next? you push someone into a 4ft deep pool in full clothes and you get introuble for attempted drowning!!! Seriously japan!
CMEANDU26
If it was me I don't need the police. I would have taken care of it. They are too old to be playing around like that. If it was just me maybe I could walk away. But my son.... I think that they should feel the pain.
IchyaWarFare
Hope these cats get in big trouble from this. 11 floors high and you hit a 3-year-old Japanese kid. Kid probably weighs about 15 pounds if that. hopefully the dad took the brunt of it. Lucky it was not an infant or someone debilitated. They could have seriously injured someone.
TheguyNextdoor
Ichya- I see your point, just saying its not a crime if no one is injured. If they had the post state, two injured while drenched with 45liter bucket of water, then i would be like its a crime. it just said they poured the water, it may have been the whole bucket at once...we don't know, they could have trickled it down. The water could have splashed directly infron/behind them. My point is, it should be catergorized as a crime. A fine may, but assault?
TheguyNextdoor
I meant, "it shouldn't be categorized as a crime"
khemet
I would probably go to their room and make sure I do something very drastic like kick their knee cap inwards and than boil some water and poor it on them. Hey, you want to play, lets play, right?
khemet
Pour
khemet
Than~then
WilliB
Moderator,
if you edit a message, please indicate so!!
You deleted part of my messages without indicating it. That is deception.
Moderator: It is not required that we indicate editing. The rules state quite clearly that moderators may edit posts rather than delete them. Also, you may be sure that if a moderator edits your post, it is only to remove something that you should not have put in to begin with.
smithinjapan
For all those people think that simply because they dumped water from a balcony it's not a crime, think again. Water is quite heavy, and at high velocity can do a lot of damage.
Molenir
Apart from that, just dumping water on someone can damage their clothes. Just because you think its a joke, doesn't mean it isn't a crime. It is assault. Regardless of the material being dumped.
TheguyNextdoor
Smith- if you read....no one really knows how the water was poured...it just says it was. It could have come down in trickles...we don't know....so....there needs to be more info.
NwaBiaframassob
When you want us to suffer, we makes you feel the pains.
When you dont want PEOPLE in the society to relate to each other, what do you except??? calling the BLUE BOYS ( POLICE ) Un-necssarily.
Japan here we come.
jessssicaaa
lol i have done that at a small party! was so funny.. but not off a balcony on a 11 story building, was only a 5 story XD
memyselfI
Hey, J Today bloggers. It's a practical joke. It's funny !!! I laughed reading this article. You guys really need to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. It's not an assault !!!! Just like if someone makes fun of your food, your clothes whatever should they get arrested too ???
DentShop
Wow some people need to pull the stick out of their butt and see that this was not so bad. Yeah its irresponsible and juvenile, but come on people...
TheguyNextdoor
MemyselfI & Dentshop-
Thank you!!!
bdiego
Ichya: Firing a gun at someone is a crime even if nobody is injured. Pushing someone off a bridge is a crime even if nobody is injured. Throwing a penny off a skyscraper (which will kill someone) is a crime even if nobody is injured.
likeitis
Yeah, its all fun and games. Until you get home and find out that your keitai is ruined. Or until somebody runs out into traffic and dies because they don't know if you are flinging water, gasoline or sulphuric acid.
Practical jokes are best played on friends, not total strangers.
nylex4
exactly what this country needs - more acts of randomless fun and mayhem
illsayit
throwing it at same-aged people, maybe funny, throwing it at some girls to get attention, funny, but definitely wont work, throwing it at your parents after a vebal argument, bound to 'cool' the situation down.....
But, choosing, a father and 3yo son, worrying.